Rudolf Pilfousek

Rudolf Pilfousek (2 January 1899-1980) was a Colonel of the Slovak Republic's military during World War II.

Biography
Rudolf Pilfousek was born on 2 January 1899 in Habartice, Austria-Hungary to a family of Sudetens, and he rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the army of Czechoslovakia during the Interwar period. In 1938, he joined the army of the newly formed Slovak Republic, and he led the Slovak 2nd Infantry Division in Presov; in 1939, this division took part in the invasion of Poland. Pilfousek later took command of the Slovak Rapid Division on 7 July 1941 in preparation for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, and the division fought at Lwow, Kiev, Rostov-on-Don, and in the Kuban region of southern Russia. The division fought on the front lines until 28 July 1943, when it returned home. In June 1944, the division was disbanded, and Pilfousek entered the Wehrmacht. At the beginning of 1945, he took command of a unit of Slovak and German troops to fight against the Soviet Red Army, and he died in 1980 after the war's end.